This all started thanks to a few posts by Spree15543 where he tried (emphasis on that word) to assess the Yankees and Red Sox on a position-by-position basis. In his view, the Red Sox won 5 positions (3B, C, LF, CF, DH), the Yankees won 3 positions (1B, SS, RF) and they pushed at 2B. Problem is, he didn't really provide any stats or rationale to back up his claim, so I decided to see if the numbers backed his opinion.

Instead of comparing what they have actually done this year, I wanted to see how they stacked up against each other in terms of productivity. In other words, how productive are they PER AT BAT. In order to do this, I prorated their production and made sure each position had the same number of at bats.

I know you can't ignore the injuries that happen in real life, but injuries are generally out of a players control. Production, on the other hand, is generally within the players' control. So, if we lived in a perfect world where injuries didn't exist and every position received the same number of ABs, here is where we would stand through August 2nd, 2009.

(Note: Spree put Youk at 3B vs. ARod. Not sure who he had a 1B. Youk has played a majority of his games at 1B, so that is where I put him. I recognize that he will be playing more 3B moving forward due to the acquisition of Victor Martinez).